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"Alpe" redirects here. For the German river, see
Alpe (river).
| Alps |
| Range |
|
|
| Countries |
Slovenia, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein |
|
| Highest point |
Mont Blanc (Italian: Monte Bianco) |
| - elevation |
4,810.9 m (15,784 ft) |
| - coordinates |
45°50′01″N 06°51′54″E / 45.83361°N 6.865°E / 45.83361; 6.865 |
|
| Geology |
Bündner schist, flysch, molasse |
| Orogeny |
Alpine orogeny |
| Period |
Tertiary |
|
Relief of the Alps. See also map with international borders marked
|
The Alps from space in 2002.
The English name
Alps was taken via
French from
Latin Alpes, which may be ultimately cognate with Latin
albus ("white"). The German
Albe,
Alpe or
Alp (f.,
Old High German alpâ, plural
alpûn), and the French
Alpage or
Alpe in the singular mean "
alpine pasture", and only in the plural may also refer to the mountain range as a whole.
[1]Geography
The Alps are generally divided into the
Western Alps and the
Eastern Alps. The division is along the line between
Lake Constance and
Lake Como, following the rivers
Rhine,
Liro and
Mera. The Western Alps are higher, but their central chain is shorter and curved; they are located in
Italy,
France and
Switzerland. The Eastern Alps (main
ridge system elongated and broad) belong to
Italy,
Austria,
Switzerland,
Germany,
Liechtenstein and
Slovenia. The highest peak of the Western Alps is
Mont Blanc, at 4,807 metres (15,771 ft). The highest peak of the Eastern Alps is
Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres (13,284 ft). The
Dufourspitze, 4,634 metres (15,203 ft) and
Ortler,
[2] 3,905 metres (12,812 ft), are the second-highest, respectively.
The
Eastern Alps are commonly subdivided according to the different
lithology (rock composition) of the more central parts of the Alps and the groups at its northern and southern fringes:
The border between the Central Alps and the Southern Limestone Alps is the
Periadriatic Seam. The Northern Limestone Alps are separated from the Central Eastern Alps by the
Greywacke zone.
The
Western Alps are commonly subdivided with respect to
geography:
Main chain
The watershed between Italy and Switzerland (View from
Tête Blanche, Pennine Alps)
The main chain of the Alps follows the
watershed from the
Mediterranean Sea to the
Wienerwald, passing over many of the highest and most famous peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to
Col de Tende it runs westwards, before turning to the northwest and then, near the
Colle della Maddalena, to the north. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain heads approximately east-northeast, a heading it follows until its end near
Vienna.
Principal passes
The Alps do not form an impassable barrier; they have been traversed for war and
commerce, and later by
pilgrims, students and tourists. Crossing places by road, train or foot are called
passes. These are depressions in the mountains into which a valley leads from the plains and hilly pre-mountainous zones.
Four-thousanders
| Name |
Height (metres, feet) |
Range |
| Mont Blanc |
4,807 m (15,771 ft) |
Graian Alps |
| Monte Rosa |
4,634 m (15,203 ft) |
Pennine Alps |
| Dom |
4,545 m (14,911 ft) |
Pennine Alps |
| Weisshorn |
4,505 m (14,780 ft) |
Pennine Alps |
| Matterhorn |
4,478 m (14,692 ft) |
Pennine Alps |
| Grand Combin |
4,314 m (14,154 ft) |
Pennine Alps |
| Finsteraarhorn |
4,273 m (14,019 ft) |
Bernese Alps |
| Aletschhorn |
4,192 m (13,753 ft) |
Bernese Alps |
| Barre des Écrins |
4,102 m (13,458 ft) |
Dauphiné Alps |
| Gran Paradiso |
4,061 m (13,323 ft) |
Graian Alps |
| Piz Bernina |
4,049 m (13,284 ft) |
Bernina Range |
| Weissmies |
4,023 m (13,199 ft) |
Pennine Alps |
Karl Blodig was the first person to climb all the major four-thousand metre peaks, circa 1900.
Geology and orogeny
The Alps form a part of a
Tertiary orogenic belt of mountain chains, called the
Alpide belt, that stretches through southern Europe and Asia from the
Atlantic all the way to the
Himalayas. This belt of mountain chains was formed during the
Alpine orogeny. A gap in these mountain chains in central Europe separates the Alps from the
Carpathians off to the east. Orogeny took place continuously and
tectonic subsidence is to blame for the gaps in between.
The Alps arose as a result of the collision of the
African and
European tectonic plates, in which the western part of the
Tethys Ocean, which was formerly in between these continents, disappeared. Enormous
stress was exerted on
sediments of the
Tethys Ocean basin and its
Mesozoic and early
Cenozoic strata were pushed against the stable
Eurasian landmass by the northward-moving
African landmass. Most of this occurred during the
Oligocene and
Miocene epochs. The pressure formed great recumbent folds, or
nappes, that rose out of what had become the
Tethys Sea and pushed northward, often breaking and sliding one over the other to form gigantic
thrust faults.
Crystalline basement rocks, which are exposed in the higher central regions, are the rocks forming
Mont Blanc, the
Matterhorn, and high peaks in the
Pennine Alps and
Hohe Tauern.
The formation of the
Mediterranean Sea is a more recent development, and does not mark the northern shore of the African landmass.
Climate
The Alps are split into five climate zones, each with a different kind of environment. The climate, plant life and animal life vary on different sections or zones of the mountain.
1.The section of the Alps that is above 3000 metres is called the névé zone. This area, which has the coldest climate, is permanently coated with compressed snow. That is why plants are scarce in the névé zone.
2. The alpine zone lies between the height of 2000 and 3000 metres. This zone is less cold than in the névé zone. Wildflowers and grasses grow here.
3. Just below the alpine zone is the subalpine zone, 1500 to 2000 metres high. Forests of fir trees and spruce trees grow in the subalpine zone as the temperature slowly goes up.
4. At about 1000 to 1500 metres high is the arable zone. Millions of oak trees sprout in this area. This is also where farming takes place.
5. Below 1000 metres are the lowlands. Here, a larger variety of plants produce. Aside from plants, villages are also in the lowlands because the temperature is more bearable for both humans and animals.
The Alps are a classic example of what happens when a temperate area at lower altitude gives way to higher-elevation terrain. Elevations around the world which have cold climates similar to those found in
polar areas have been called
Alpine. A rise from
sea level into the upper regions of the
atmosphere causes the
temperature to decrease (see
adiabatic lapse rate). The effect of mountain chains on prevailing winds is to carry warm air belonging to the lower region into an upper zone, where it expands in volume at the cost of a proportionate loss of heat, often accompanied by the
precipitation in the form of
snow or
rain.
Political and cultural history
Little is known of the early dwellers of the Alps, save from scanty accounts preserved by
Roman and
Greek historians and geographers. A few details have come down to us of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by
Augustus. Also, recent research into
Mitochondrial DNA indicates that MtDNA
Haplogroup K very likely originated in or near the southeastern Alps approximately 12–15,000 years ago.
Not until after the final breakup of the
Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th century can the local history of the Alps be traced out.
Exploration
The higher regions of the Alps were long left to the exclusive attention of the people of the adjoining valleys even when Alpine travellers (as distinguished from Alpine climbers) began to visit these valleys. The two men who first explored the regions of ice and snow were H.B. de Saussure (1740–1799) in the
Pennine Alps and the Benedictine monk of
Disentis Placidus a Spescha (1752–1833), most of whose ascents were made before 1806 in the valleys at the sources of the
Rhine.
Travel and tourism
The Alps are popular both in summer and in winter as a destination for sightseeing and sports.
Winter sports (Alpine and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing, snowshoeing, ski tours) can be practised in most regions from December to April. In summer, the Alps are popular with hikers, mountain bikers, paragliders, mountaineers, while many alpine lakes attract swimmers, sailors and surfers. The lower regions and larger towns of the Alps are well served by
motorways and
main roads, but higher
passes and by-roads can be treacherous even in summer. Many passes are closed in winter. A multitude of airports around the Alps (and some within), as well as long-distance rail links from all neighbouring countries, afford large numbers of travellers easy access from abroad. The Alps typically see more than 100 million visitors a year.
Flora
A natural vegetation limit with altitude is given by the presence of the chief
deciduous trees—
oak,
beech,
ash and
sycamore maple. These do not reach exactly to the same elevation, nor are they often found growing together; but their upper limit corresponds accurately enough to the change from a temperate to a colder climate that is further proved by a change in the presence of wild herbaceous vegetation. This limit usually lies about 1,200 metres (3,940 ft) above the sea on the north side of the Alps, but on the southern slopes it often rises to 1,500 metres (4,920 ft), sometimes even to 1,700 metres (5,580 ft).
This region is not always marked by the presence of the characteristic trees. Human interference has nearly exterminated them in many areas, and, except for the beech forests of the Austrian Alps, forests of deciduous trees are rarely found. In many districts where such woods once existed, they have been replaced by the
Scots pine and
Norway spruce, which are less sensitive to the ravages of goats who are the worst enemies of such trees.
Above the forestry, there is often a band of short pine trees (
Pinus mugo), which is in turn superseded by dwarf
shrubs, typically
Rhododendron ferrugineum (on acid soils) or
Rhododendron hirsutum (on alkaline soils). Above this is the
alpine meadow, and even higher, the vegetation becomes more and more sparse. At these higher altitudes, the plants tend to form isolated cushions. In the Alps, several species of flowering plants have been recorded above 4,000 metres (13,120 ft), including
Ranunculus glacialis,
Androsace alpina and
Saxifraga biflora.
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Alpine dwarf orchid
(Chamorchis alpina)
|
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Fauna
Species common to the Alps.
References
- ^ Jacob Grimm, Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. "Albe", "Alpe". The original meaning being "white" (in reference to the permanent snow. The term may be common Italo-Celtic, since Celtic languages also have terms for high mountains derived from alp. German Alpen is the accusative in origin, but was made the nominative in Modern German, whence also Alm.
- ^ Excluding the Piz Zupò and Piz Roseg located in the Bernina range, close to Piz Bernina.
- ^ a b Lancel, Serge, Hannibal, p. 71
See also
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